Comfort food
Agriculture, we learn today, is primarily about the provision of food. Well, that's a comfort.
For this searing analysis, we are indebted to the Scottish Government and, in particular, to Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead who has been .
Ach, stop it, Brian. Enough of this urban cynicism. Mr Lochhead is striving to promote an industry which is worth some £7.5bn to the Scottish economy.
I freely confess that my knowledge of rural matters is not great, despite my being the grandson of an Angus farm grieve.
From him and his kin, I learned sundry songs and rural lore. Even today, I can sing all the words of "Nicky Tams", that magnificent ballad of Angus country life.
As a coy loon on the Press and Journal in Aberdeen, I occasionally subbed the fish prices. Ling, coley, gutted haddock, round haddock and the rest.
Calamity to get them wrong.
Serious gig
At a still younger age, I was wont to pick berries in Blairgowrie and at small-holdings near Dundee. However, that's about as far as it goes.
But back to Mr Lochhead. The Oxford conference is a serious gig with speakers from the EU and the UK Cabinet alongside the Scottish governmental contribution.
Mr Lochhead's core argument is that the interests of Scotland diverge in this sector from policies which he attributes to his UK counterparts.
No surprise there, given that he is a Nationalist. He seeks further powers for the Scottish Parliament in this sector.
However, his detailed analysis is intriguing - and perhaps worthy of further debate.
The minister asserts that UK ministers are backing a relatively speedy end to farming subsidies as part of reforms to the European Common Agricultural Policy.
This, says Mr Lochhead, is "not Scotland's vision". Public support for farming, he said, was "wholly justified" in the light of challenges which he said were "unique" in Scotland.
An argument, one imagines, which will find favour in, for example, France where agriculture is traditionally accorded key importance. Perhaps Mr Lochhead should revive the Auld Alliance.
I'm 
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